Button Batteries in Remotes, Key Fobs & Scales

TV and streaming remotes, car key fobs, bathroom scales, games controllers, light-up toys, singing greeting cards and candles with a coin battery behind a door that slides or pops off by hand; spare batteries in a purse, drawer or on the coffee table.

Reese's Law (enacted August 16, 2022) led CPSC to adopt a mandatory standard, ANSI/UL 4200A-2023: consumer products with button or coin batteries must have a compartment that opens only with a tool or two independent, simultaneous hand movements, plus warnings, and the batteries must come in child-resistant packaging (packaging cutoff: batteries made or imported after February 12, 2023). That protects newer products; a remote or fob you already own may not meet it. Check each device for a door that opens by hand and secure it with strong tape or a screw; keep spare and dead batteries locked up. If a battery may have been swallowed, go to the emergency room right away, without waiting for symptoms, and call the National Battery Ingestion Hotline (800-498-8666) or Poison Help (800-222-1222). The honey first-aid step (children 12 months and older only) is covered, with its medical sign-off and disclaimer, on the nursery battery page linked below.